Well, it's now into September, and the Cambridge Film Festival organisers have just about managed to put up a 'preview brochure' for the festival - basically a hastily cobbled together 'we have these films, it's not a full list, and we don't know for sure when things are on, so just bear with us'.
Usually we get the full brochure a month before the festival starts, so what on earth is going on down there? My hunch is that they have a few money problems now things are so tight (and it will only get worse for the UK film industry). They even have a JustGiving page to try and help them through. They've raised a tidy sum, but it doesn't seem to be doing them much good, unfortunately.
Whatever the case, the punter loses out. It's bad enough regional festival-goers trying to arrange time off work to see the best that's on offer when the brochure is so late, but those of us living further away now have no chance whatsoever to get there - all the B+B's are now booked full. So, I've taken the decision to give it a miss this year and concentrate on Japan and the Leeds fest in November. Grr.
It's a shame, because not only is it a lovely place to stay, but you also get a good crop of films at Cambridge, they seem to be able to pull out of the bag a healthy crop year on year, and this time seems no different.
If you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity, there looks to be some good stuff on at least; stuff standing out from the rest this year includes The Secret of Kells (Leeds last year, missed it - beautiful animation that pulled a lot of awards), The People vs. George Lucas (Edinburgh, missed it - A humorous/serious documentary about rabid fans), Winter's Bone (Oscar-nominated thriller about a woman trying to save her family by finding her father), Plug and Pray (exploring where we are going with robots and technology)
Nenètte (a documentary about a charismatic and elderly Oran-utan in a Paris zoo)
and The Extraordinary Adventures if Adele Blanc-Sec (French Indiana Jones-style action film, but with a sexy wummin!).
I'm praying for a rerun of at least a few of these and others at Leeds... pretty please..?
Showing posts with label Cambridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambridge. Show all posts
Cambridge Film Festival 2009 Day 4
It seemed as though we had barely arrived, but it was already our last day, and no late night ones as we had a 5h drive ahead of us and then work in the morning :(. Oh well, not long to Leeds..
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (US) (site/wiki)
A sort of yang to the ying of Creation, this documentary by nasal-voiced Ben Stein has been picking up a notorious reputation wherever it has been shown. It's premise seems fair enough: that the academics and scientists who support Evolutionary theory are so inflexible in their opinions that nothing from the ID school of thought can be of any use, and that anyone who dares publish anything even mentioning ID/Creationism within their hallowed halls will be immediately 'expelled'. To start with, Stein interviews several individuals from university and scientific establishments who were given short shrift for such mentions, which as most would agree on both sides, is a bit harsh. However, it's at this point (once the skeptical viewer has been brought onside) that it lets its hair down a little and the credibility begins to slip.
Moving from unfair dismissal cases, it attempts coyly to distinguish between ID and creationism, with Stein playing a not particularly active devils advocate and never answering the question about what the difference really is. Then, a number of 'scientific experts' put in various claims that Darwin's theories are 'full of holes', without ever giving so much as one example about what those holes are. Even a couple of keywords the viewer could use to do some background reading on after the film would have sufficed, but nothing was said.
One major claim was that in Darwin's time, cellular research was in its infancy, and from this a giant leap is made by saying because we now have much more insight into the workings at a sub-cellular level, evolutionary theory falls apart. Quite why it should not be applicable within a cell is never explained, although we do get a minutes worth of pretty computer graphics.
Then he moved, (with appropriate brooding music) towards igniting the passions of the American right, using the same tactics employed by the rabid republicans in the current US healthcare debate - general talk of eroding freedoms were illustrated with old stock footage of.. Stalin, Marx, Russian soldiers holding back crowds of people, mixed with strategic insertion of words such as 'socialist', 'freedom' and 'patriotism' and the like to whatever was the topic on screen at the time. A little shimmy into how Darwin's theories promoted Nazism and Eugenics, coupled with some nicely trimmed footage of Dawkins et al when they were at their most antagonised (and thus arrogant) selves, and a finish off back at the start telling us how we must be open to all possibilities, not just the ones rammed down our throats.
Obviously given my leanings, I was never going to come out of this film with a new opinion of the world, but its snide underhandedness made Creation look all that much better as both entertainment and education. It's thus fair to say I was less than impressed with Expelled; Stein did as many others have done when they realise their side of the argument has no credible evidence to back it up - rely on smoke and mirrors, straw men and just enough half truth to encourage the viewer to make up their own minds, in the direction the director wants them to go. I encourage those from both sides of the argument to go see it, especially if they can get someone from the other camp to go with them at the time. 5/10
From Russia with Love (UK) (wiki)
A nice, simple Bond film to end with. This is constantly in the top few of most Bond fan lists for best film adaptation of the novels, where Connery's Bond does battle with the forces of SPECTRE on one side, and the amusingly-titled Soviet SMERSH operation on the other. SPECTRE agents Kronstein (strategic chess player) and Rosa Klebb (Ex-SMERSH operative and early lesbian film icon with a nice line in poison tipped daggers in her shoes) execute a plot to get the British Secret Service and SMERSH to squabble over a copy of the much desired Lektor device (an Enigma-style cryptographic unit) and while they kill each other off, SPECTRE takes it off their hands using burly beefhead Red Grant who silently pursues the various players picking them off as the hunt for the Lektor progresses.
As it is an early Bond film, there is far less reliance on the gadgets, improbable villains and car chases that dogged the later films, or the campness brought in with the Moore/Brosnan years, although there is more than the usual amount of female objectification, especially during the first third. What is left is a reasonably straight crime caper set in a number of beautiful locations around Istanbul and Venice, including a tense segment aboard the Belgrade to Zagreb train, and it is the close-quarters combat here, and subsequent escape from the country for Bond and Russian counterpart Tatiana that forms the best part of the film. It's just a shame that the quality of the film print wasn't up to scratch, it had clearly been passed through those reels a lot of times, but it was nice to see it on the big screen. 7/10
Another year over for Cambridge. It was lovely, and at the time of writing, it's still on; so if you have some free time on your hands this weekend and you live quite close, you could do a lot worse than catch it's closing nights.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (US) (site/wiki)
A sort of yang to the ying of Creation, this documentary by nasal-voiced Ben Stein has been picking up a notorious reputation wherever it has been shown. It's premise seems fair enough: that the academics and scientists who support Evolutionary theory are so inflexible in their opinions that nothing from the ID school of thought can be of any use, and that anyone who dares publish anything even mentioning ID/Creationism within their hallowed halls will be immediately 'expelled'. To start with, Stein interviews several individuals from university and scientific establishments who were given short shrift for such mentions, which as most would agree on both sides, is a bit harsh. However, it's at this point (once the skeptical viewer has been brought onside) that it lets its hair down a little and the credibility begins to slip.
Moving from unfair dismissal cases, it attempts coyly to distinguish between ID and creationism, with Stein playing a not particularly active devils advocate and never answering the question about what the difference really is. Then, a number of 'scientific experts' put in various claims that Darwin's theories are 'full of holes', without ever giving so much as one example about what those holes are. Even a couple of keywords the viewer could use to do some background reading on after the film would have sufficed, but nothing was said.
One major claim was that in Darwin's time, cellular research was in its infancy, and from this a giant leap is made by saying because we now have much more insight into the workings at a sub-cellular level, evolutionary theory falls apart. Quite why it should not be applicable within a cell is never explained, although we do get a minutes worth of pretty computer graphics.
Then he moved, (with appropriate brooding music) towards igniting the passions of the American right, using the same tactics employed by the rabid republicans in the current US healthcare debate - general talk of eroding freedoms were illustrated with old stock footage of.. Stalin, Marx, Russian soldiers holding back crowds of people, mixed with strategic insertion of words such as 'socialist', 'freedom' and 'patriotism' and the like to whatever was the topic on screen at the time. A little shimmy into how Darwin's theories promoted Nazism and Eugenics, coupled with some nicely trimmed footage of Dawkins et al when they were at their most antagonised (and thus arrogant) selves, and a finish off back at the start telling us how we must be open to all possibilities, not just the ones rammed down our throats.
Obviously given my leanings, I was never going to come out of this film with a new opinion of the world, but its snide underhandedness made Creation look all that much better as both entertainment and education. It's thus fair to say I was less than impressed with Expelled; Stein did as many others have done when they realise their side of the argument has no credible evidence to back it up - rely on smoke and mirrors, straw men and just enough half truth to encourage the viewer to make up their own minds, in the direction the director wants them to go. I encourage those from both sides of the argument to go see it, especially if they can get someone from the other camp to go with them at the time. 5/10
From Russia with Love (UK) (wiki)
A nice, simple Bond film to end with. This is constantly in the top few of most Bond fan lists for best film adaptation of the novels, where Connery's Bond does battle with the forces of SPECTRE on one side, and the amusingly-titled Soviet SMERSH operation on the other. SPECTRE agents Kronstein (strategic chess player) and Rosa Klebb (Ex-SMERSH operative and early lesbian film icon with a nice line in poison tipped daggers in her shoes) execute a plot to get the British Secret Service and SMERSH to squabble over a copy of the much desired Lektor device (an Enigma-style cryptographic unit) and while they kill each other off, SPECTRE takes it off their hands using burly beefhead Red Grant who silently pursues the various players picking them off as the hunt for the Lektor progresses.
As it is an early Bond film, there is far less reliance on the gadgets, improbable villains and car chases that dogged the later films, or the campness brought in with the Moore/Brosnan years, although there is more than the usual amount of female objectification, especially during the first third. What is left is a reasonably straight crime caper set in a number of beautiful locations around Istanbul and Venice, including a tense segment aboard the Belgrade to Zagreb train, and it is the close-quarters combat here, and subsequent escape from the country for Bond and Russian counterpart Tatiana that forms the best part of the film. It's just a shame that the quality of the film print wasn't up to scratch, it had clearly been passed through those reels a lot of times, but it was nice to see it on the big screen. 7/10
Another year over for Cambridge. It was lovely, and at the time of writing, it's still on; so if you have some free time on your hands this weekend and you live quite close, you could do a lot worse than catch it's closing nights.
Cambridge Film Festival 2009 Day 3
Little White Lies (Germany) (site)
A period drama set in the cold, snow covered 1930's Germany, Little White Lies centres in on a gang of schoolchildren taking lessons by day and exploring abandoned warehouses at night. 13-year old Alexanders' year is split into two groups, the A's and the B's. Though the B group is generally seen as sub-servant to the A's, a peaceful coexistence survives between the two. That is until Grüber - two years older and with a keen eye for exploitation - moves to town and is put with the A's. He quickly makes his mark, making personal gain from the snowballing events in the classroom to further his own ends. Gaining power by skilful manipulation of the truth and rising through the pecking order by spreading lies about the B's and holding to blackmail any A's who oppose his ideas (including Alexander, who unwittingly sets into motion a whole series of opportunities for Grüber to exploit). Soon the balance held in check for generations is upset and friends are set against one another.
In case you haven't guessed, the film is a not very subtle parable warning about how lies and the distortion of truth can lead to very bad situations for all involved. Or more bluntly still, an allegory on how the Nazis rose to power. Grüber is clearly modelled on Hitler, and the A and B groups represent Non-Jewish and Jewish Germans at around that time, respectively. Though this is put forth with quite a heavy hand, the film is still a beautifully shot, 2-tier story of young friendship and love on the boundaries of war, and how the truth can so easily be mislaid. 7.5/10
Best of British Shorts (UK)
Next up was a set of short films from the UK. They all shared a common theme, which was inner-city depression, isolation, and the breakdown of the family unit, under the general heading 'Britain'. Such themes tend to dominate UK based contemporary films rather too much at the moment. Is life here really that universally bad?
Boy - A bold and unsettling film, following the sexual awakening of a man towards a boy who begins to hang around his allotment, and the inner turmoil it generates as he struggles with his own self-loathing. It took me places I really wasn't comfortable seeing, but that is it's strength - these people are human too. 8/10
Hip Hip Hooray - Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo from Eastenders) pops briefly onto the screen as Pippa, a woman so detached from others that she has to arrange a birthday party using the residents and staff of the nursing home she works at to make up the numbers. With a bigger do apparently planned for when she gets home, will her secret admirer pluck up the courage to gatecrash the proceedings? Sweet but also depressing at the same time. 6.5/10
Quietus - Juliet Stevenson stars as a carer visiting elderly Mrs Rogers and her many cats. Unfortunately, Mrs Rogers has been done over some days earlier and the only witnesses to the crime seem more interested in getting their kitekat. 6/10
GirlLikeMe - Lucy's parents are too locked in their never-ending shouting matches to notice she is falling away. She doesn't want to be a kid any more, and when her text boyfriend wants to meet up, she makes an effort to look like a proper adult. When both parties realise the other was lying about their age, the situation could go several ways. Will Lucy quit or try to make the best of the situation? 6/10
Finding Home - Darren and Tom are both wasters with an estranged and missing mother and a permanently comatose father; they spend their days messing around on their estate, waiting until they get enough money together to go find her. When Tom suddenly comes back with a wad of cash, Darren fears the worst and attempts to sort things out. Much like the two brothers around which this story revolves, it never particularly goes anywhere. 5/10
Washdays - Bed wetting doesn't seem to go away for Kyle, and his mum insists on making him wash his sheets in the hope this will teach his bladder the right time to relax itself. This makes him constantly late for school, and when the teacher asks Kyle for a note explaining things, the potential for his secret to get out leaves him with one choice: bunk off and sort things out for himself. 7.5/10
Tender - Young teen Liam comes into a bit of cash, but on his estate, flashing it around is not a good idea, especially for his single mum and the attentions of her violent boyfriend. So when local skirt and secret object of his affection Alisha realises he has a bit behind him and starts being friendly, perhaps he can use the money to get a little closer, and then maybe escape his depressing situation. 6/10
All Day Breakfast - Daryl is not the brightest spark, and wants to leave sunny Blackpool for all the reasons surly teens want to leave the place they grew up in. Unfortunately he has no competence for looking after himself, and no money to get somewhere new, something his maybe-girlfriend Juliet is used to, after seeing his plans for their big elope fizzle out once again. When Juliet disappears on the day Daryl promised they would finally get away, his only chance of seeing her again is to head for the dizzy heights of Manchester where Juliet wanted to find her calling as a Corrie regular. 6.5/10
Desire (UK) (site)
Bit of a saucy one, this. Ralph, an increasingly agoraphobic writer with creative block hires an au-pair, Néne to work in the family home, much to the frustration of his wife Phoebe, who's first encounter with her is the next morning at breakfast. The idea, Ralph keeps telling himself and
his wife, is that she will be able to ease his mind and allow him to finish the script that will lift them out of the small time and Phoebe out of the small-part soap opera position she has been stuck in for the past few years. He didn't mention his decision to hire Néne was after little more than seeing her picture on the Internet.
Néne is kind and helpful, the kids love her, and despite Phoebe's best efforts, she is won around by Néne's calming presence, until she realises that her, Néne and Ralph are all similar to characters in the script, and Néne seems to be getting pretty close to Ralph between the pages. Néne nevertheless exerts unexpected charm and calming influence on the already strained relationship, and slowly becomes carer, muse, and lover to both of them.
Phoebe still cannot shake her jealousy, and so tries to make things go four ways by inviting Darren, a young bit-part actor in her soap, around for an extended stay to even things up a bit. The already unlikely situation twists and turns as the players work out their parts in both the film and the emerging script that is evolving from the events as they unfold, in fact it is blurring of whether the script dictates the actions or the other way around that provides much of the intrigue of this film. By the end, can this unconventional extended family possibly make things work? I found personally that when the crunch time came near the end of the film, I cared enough about the main parts to wish that they could.
If you can forgive the eccentric outbursts by Ralph as he struggles to maintain power over his family, and Darren's matching chest thrusts, (clearly wanting to stay part of the group to sample Pheobe's ample charms), you'll find a saucy, funny and warm film, where perhaps you might have expected blatant smut and/or eroticism. 8/10
Creation (UK) (site/wiki)
Just about to hit UK cinemas, in timely fashion is the story of part of the life of Charles Darwin. To call it his life story would be unfair since it concentrates mostly on the years leading up to the publication of On the Origin of Species, with a few flashbacks to his voyage on the Beagle.
Paul Bettany is the spitting image of Darwin, with his furrowed brow and piercing stare, I doubt they could possibly have managed to find anyone more suitable, and his wife Emma, played by Jennifer Connelly (who is married to Bettany) does a convincing job of playing a faithful wife torn between her marriage to her husband and to her faith.
The film concentrates its attention in the three areas of Darwin's failing health (that was also responsible for the death of his daughter), his time with Anna before she died, and the changing relationship with his wife and the surrounding community as his theories gathered notoriety. It is surprising that the film does not extend to the many debating matches that occurred after the book was released, but it is clear that the existing content was more than enough to fill up the film. A cynical man may suggest that they left room for a sequel to cover that part of the story. I sincerely hope they do not.
Creation felt 'authentic', although as the director said in the extensive Q+A at the end, they took some small liberties with the literal truths about Darwin's life, preferring instead to maintain a flowing narrative and concentrate on bringing forward the essence of the man. On hearing this when director Jon Amiel took the mic for a preamble at the start, I had horrible visions of Darwin dressed as Arnie in the Terminator films, swinging through the plate glass windows of Down House and gunning down everyone in his way. Fortunately, though a historian would be able to pick small holes in the facts as presented on the screen, there was nothing that seems out of place that I could see. Darwin is portrayed as a passionate and flawed but loving family man whose stubbornness is his own worst enemy, fighting with his conscience about his lost daughter and the prospect of losing his wife from his side in the name of the work he was carrying out.
Several locations around Darwin's home in Kent were used, including Down House and the surrounding grounds, and the local churches and other buildings of prominence, and the whole thing feels like it has been painstakingly put together to ensure a convincing recreation of the life of this important man. It was more of an autobiography than a straight account of his 20 or so years of work on his most famous theories, but this worked in the favour of the film, which is better and leaner for it. 8/10
Hierro (Spain) (Interview/wiki)
A late-night thriller to keep us going to the end of this mini film marathon, and Hierro comes with the distinction of having Guillermo del Toro (of Pan's Labyrinth) as one of its contributors. Maria and her young son Diego head aboard the ferry to the island of El Hierro for a well-earned break from her job as a marine biologist. Waking from exhausted slumber, she finds that Diego has disappeared from her side, and after a fruitless exhaustive search, no trace is found on the boat.
Sometime later, Maria is called back to the island to identify a body of a boy taken from the sea, but after giving a negative ID, she finds herself stuck on the island whilst the paperwork is sorted out, which has to be done before she can go back home. Naturally, she takes the opportunity to do some detective work of her own, spurred on after hearing of an abduction of a child on the island at around the same time.
Hierro is a brooding, creepy and claustrophobic thriller, and one with a twist at the end strong enough to turn everything on its head, which was met with both surprise and satisfaction. A clever, raw and chilling film that sparks conversation well after the credits. 8/10
A period drama set in the cold, snow covered 1930's Germany, Little White Lies centres in on a gang of schoolchildren taking lessons by day and exploring abandoned warehouses at night. 13-year old Alexanders' year is split into two groups, the A's and the B's. Though the B group is generally seen as sub-servant to the A's, a peaceful coexistence survives between the two. That is until Grüber - two years older and with a keen eye for exploitation - moves to town and is put with the A's. He quickly makes his mark, making personal gain from the snowballing events in the classroom to further his own ends. Gaining power by skilful manipulation of the truth and rising through the pecking order by spreading lies about the B's and holding to blackmail any A's who oppose his ideas (including Alexander, who unwittingly sets into motion a whole series of opportunities for Grüber to exploit). Soon the balance held in check for generations is upset and friends are set against one another.
In case you haven't guessed, the film is a not very subtle parable warning about how lies and the distortion of truth can lead to very bad situations for all involved. Or more bluntly still, an allegory on how the Nazis rose to power. Grüber is clearly modelled on Hitler, and the A and B groups represent Non-Jewish and Jewish Germans at around that time, respectively. Though this is put forth with quite a heavy hand, the film is still a beautifully shot, 2-tier story of young friendship and love on the boundaries of war, and how the truth can so easily be mislaid. 7.5/10
Best of British Shorts (UK)
Next up was a set of short films from the UK. They all shared a common theme, which was inner-city depression, isolation, and the breakdown of the family unit, under the general heading 'Britain'. Such themes tend to dominate UK based contemporary films rather too much at the moment. Is life here really that universally bad?
Boy - A bold and unsettling film, following the sexual awakening of a man towards a boy who begins to hang around his allotment, and the inner turmoil it generates as he struggles with his own self-loathing. It took me places I really wasn't comfortable seeing, but that is it's strength - these people are human too. 8/10
Hip Hip Hooray - Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo from Eastenders) pops briefly onto the screen as Pippa, a woman so detached from others that she has to arrange a birthday party using the residents and staff of the nursing home she works at to make up the numbers. With a bigger do apparently planned for when she gets home, will her secret admirer pluck up the courage to gatecrash the proceedings? Sweet but also depressing at the same time. 6.5/10
Quietus - Juliet Stevenson stars as a carer visiting elderly Mrs Rogers and her many cats. Unfortunately, Mrs Rogers has been done over some days earlier and the only witnesses to the crime seem more interested in getting their kitekat. 6/10
GirlLikeMe - Lucy's parents are too locked in their never-ending shouting matches to notice she is falling away. She doesn't want to be a kid any more, and when her text boyfriend wants to meet up, she makes an effort to look like a proper adult. When both parties realise the other was lying about their age, the situation could go several ways. Will Lucy quit or try to make the best of the situation? 6/10
Finding Home - Darren and Tom are both wasters with an estranged and missing mother and a permanently comatose father; they spend their days messing around on their estate, waiting until they get enough money together to go find her. When Tom suddenly comes back with a wad of cash, Darren fears the worst and attempts to sort things out. Much like the two brothers around which this story revolves, it never particularly goes anywhere. 5/10
Washdays - Bed wetting doesn't seem to go away for Kyle, and his mum insists on making him wash his sheets in the hope this will teach his bladder the right time to relax itself. This makes him constantly late for school, and when the teacher asks Kyle for a note explaining things, the potential for his secret to get out leaves him with one choice: bunk off and sort things out for himself. 7.5/10
Tender - Young teen Liam comes into a bit of cash, but on his estate, flashing it around is not a good idea, especially for his single mum and the attentions of her violent boyfriend. So when local skirt and secret object of his affection Alisha realises he has a bit behind him and starts being friendly, perhaps he can use the money to get a little closer, and then maybe escape his depressing situation. 6/10
All Day Breakfast - Daryl is not the brightest spark, and wants to leave sunny Blackpool for all the reasons surly teens want to leave the place they grew up in. Unfortunately he has no competence for looking after himself, and no money to get somewhere new, something his maybe-girlfriend Juliet is used to, after seeing his plans for their big elope fizzle out once again. When Juliet disappears on the day Daryl promised they would finally get away, his only chance of seeing her again is to head for the dizzy heights of Manchester where Juliet wanted to find her calling as a Corrie regular. 6.5/10
Desire (UK) (site)
Bit of a saucy one, this. Ralph, an increasingly agoraphobic writer with creative block hires an au-pair, Néne to work in the family home, much to the frustration of his wife Phoebe, who's first encounter with her is the next morning at breakfast. The idea, Ralph keeps telling himself and
his wife, is that she will be able to ease his mind and allow him to finish the script that will lift them out of the small time and Phoebe out of the small-part soap opera position she has been stuck in for the past few years. He didn't mention his decision to hire Néne was after little more than seeing her picture on the Internet.
Néne is kind and helpful, the kids love her, and despite Phoebe's best efforts, she is won around by Néne's calming presence, until she realises that her, Néne and Ralph are all similar to characters in the script, and Néne seems to be getting pretty close to Ralph between the pages. Néne nevertheless exerts unexpected charm and calming influence on the already strained relationship, and slowly becomes carer, muse, and lover to both of them.
Phoebe still cannot shake her jealousy, and so tries to make things go four ways by inviting Darren, a young bit-part actor in her soap, around for an extended stay to even things up a bit. The already unlikely situation twists and turns as the players work out their parts in both the film and the emerging script that is evolving from the events as they unfold, in fact it is blurring of whether the script dictates the actions or the other way around that provides much of the intrigue of this film. By the end, can this unconventional extended family possibly make things work? I found personally that when the crunch time came near the end of the film, I cared enough about the main parts to wish that they could.
If you can forgive the eccentric outbursts by Ralph as he struggles to maintain power over his family, and Darren's matching chest thrusts, (clearly wanting to stay part of the group to sample Pheobe's ample charms), you'll find a saucy, funny and warm film, where perhaps you might have expected blatant smut and/or eroticism. 8/10
Creation (UK) (site/wiki)
Just about to hit UK cinemas, in timely fashion is the story of part of the life of Charles Darwin. To call it his life story would be unfair since it concentrates mostly on the years leading up to the publication of On the Origin of Species, with a few flashbacks to his voyage on the Beagle.
Paul Bettany is the spitting image of Darwin, with his furrowed brow and piercing stare, I doubt they could possibly have managed to find anyone more suitable, and his wife Emma, played by Jennifer Connelly (who is married to Bettany) does a convincing job of playing a faithful wife torn between her marriage to her husband and to her faith.
The film concentrates its attention in the three areas of Darwin's failing health (that was also responsible for the death of his daughter), his time with Anna before she died, and the changing relationship with his wife and the surrounding community as his theories gathered notoriety. It is surprising that the film does not extend to the many debating matches that occurred after the book was released, but it is clear that the existing content was more than enough to fill up the film. A cynical man may suggest that they left room for a sequel to cover that part of the story. I sincerely hope they do not.
Creation felt 'authentic', although as the director said in the extensive Q+A at the end, they took some small liberties with the literal truths about Darwin's life, preferring instead to maintain a flowing narrative and concentrate on bringing forward the essence of the man. On hearing this when director Jon Amiel took the mic for a preamble at the start, I had horrible visions of Darwin dressed as Arnie in the Terminator films, swinging through the plate glass windows of Down House and gunning down everyone in his way. Fortunately, though a historian would be able to pick small holes in the facts as presented on the screen, there was nothing that seems out of place that I could see. Darwin is portrayed as a passionate and flawed but loving family man whose stubbornness is his own worst enemy, fighting with his conscience about his lost daughter and the prospect of losing his wife from his side in the name of the work he was carrying out.
Several locations around Darwin's home in Kent were used, including Down House and the surrounding grounds, and the local churches and other buildings of prominence, and the whole thing feels like it has been painstakingly put together to ensure a convincing recreation of the life of this important man. It was more of an autobiography than a straight account of his 20 or so years of work on his most famous theories, but this worked in the favour of the film, which is better and leaner for it. 8/10
Hierro (Spain) (Interview/wiki)
A late-night thriller to keep us going to the end of this mini film marathon, and Hierro comes with the distinction of having Guillermo del Toro (of Pan's Labyrinth) as one of its contributors. Maria and her young son Diego head aboard the ferry to the island of El Hierro for a well-earned break from her job as a marine biologist. Waking from exhausted slumber, she finds that Diego has disappeared from her side, and after a fruitless exhaustive search, no trace is found on the boat.
Sometime later, Maria is called back to the island to identify a body of a boy taken from the sea, but after giving a negative ID, she finds herself stuck on the island whilst the paperwork is sorted out, which has to be done before she can go back home. Naturally, she takes the opportunity to do some detective work of her own, spurred on after hearing of an abduction of a child on the island at around the same time.
Hierro is a brooding, creepy and claustrophobic thriller, and one with a twist at the end strong enough to turn everything on its head, which was met with both surprise and satisfaction. A clever, raw and chilling film that sparks conversation well after the credits. 8/10
Cambridge Film Festival 2009 Day 2
Houston, we have a Problem (US) (site)
My guard was up on this one; amongst other things, Houston is billed as a look at the American oil crisis in a slightly different manner to what you would usually expect, that is, talking with the oil companies and seeing that far from enjoying their status as purveyors of black gold, they are falling on hard times (relatively) and it turns out they actually saw the oil problems coming, and lobbied for research into more sustainable energies back in the 70's. I don't know about you, but that smacked of a controversial right-leaning film attempting to paper over the problems and blame someone else. Despite some initial signs of this, such as well-off oil men laughing about what the average joe thinks about where they get their tank of petrol from (whilst living it up on a private jet), I'm happy to say the film did not give me further reason to think the facts contained within were so sugar coated.
Beginning with the events of the late 60's, where America was producing oil at a rate that pushed the price of a barrel down to $3 and people couldn't shift the stuff from the gas stations, the administration of the time took the decision to artificially withhold its availability in order to get the price back up to a more reasonable rate for the sake of the survival of the industry. By the mid-70's this was working and the price had doubled, but new problems were on the cards; increasing reliance on oil from the middle-east coupled with the increasing cold war brewing over in Russia. When the Reagan administration came into power they upped the prices of oil once more in order to bankrupt the Russians and bring a swift end to the cold-war conflict before it could get off the ground. The increasing price of barrels had unfortunately driven custom away from the Americans and were instead going to the Middle East, who by now had decided that the oil being drained from under their feet was theirs to sell for themselves, and thus took steps in the intervening years to make sure it was their companies drilling for it.
All this leaves America in a bit of a pickle, fuel wise, and as the film states, several successive presidents since the Carter era have had the opportunity to do something about it but have faltered after the campaigns died down and the job of actually running the country set in.
Fortunately, the film doesn't dwell on any one area of this rather large issue too much, it flits between the history of the crisis, the wildcat diviners who would go in search of new seams to exploit, and the people who are trying to do something about it; the latter refreshingly taking up the last segment of the film, showing us there are people out there, not just the backyard experimenters, who are investing in ways to remove dependence from oil (although this refreshing news is tempered somewhat when it's clear environmental concerns take second priority to ensuring America is not at the whim of other countries for its energy needs). Algae generating bio-diesel, huge solar panel and wind farms, nuclear and thermo-electric technologies are all apparently finally receiving the attention they need to become the producers of the future.
Though not directly related to the energy concerns of the UK or Europe, this film is still interesting and relevant for anyone who is troubled about where we are going as a world with our energy use, and what the most consumptive nations on the planet are doing about it. 8/10
The Butterfly Tattoo (UK) (site/wiki)
Based on the book of the same name by Philip Pullman, which was itself a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, The Butterfly Tattoo is in the unfortunate situation of having its audience know what will happen at the end before the start of the film, and as with many films in this situation, it gets around this by showing the finality of the story in the opening credits: A young man finds his love dead on the floor, and overcome with grief brings the weapon to his chest to take his own life.
We then go back several days to the source of the event, where middle-class lighting engineer Chris saves free-spirited but posh Jenny from the attentions of an Oxford oik at a midnight party. A little detective work on her discarded dress leads him to her flat, and a love affair begins to blossom, much to oiky's distaste and Jenny's coffee-shop co-workers' intrigue. What could have been an oft-trodden story of the sheltered Chris's descent into Jenny's decadent world turns out not to happen, but instead concentrates on endearing the viewer to the couple, so on the slow push towards the pair's eventual demise we don't want what we know will happen to happen, which thanks to the whisperings, events and misunderstandings of the pair and the people around them we are powerless to stop.
The Butterfly Tattoo is solidly made, well written (if you can ignore some of the clunkier novel-to-screen dialogue in the film's early stages), and constantly twisting and swerving as it makes its way towards its final conclusion. The two main roles were excellently delivered, and that necessary spark required for a convincing romantic encounter was present and correct. It was fresh, original, and kept the attention. A perfect film for a couple of romantics to watch. 8/10
Kin (UK) (synopsis)
Brian Welsh's first film is on a shoestring budget of £12.5K. It is clear that the locations didn't require the budget of, say, Transformers, and you might expect this film to suffer in quality with such a tight restriction, but the resulting film doesn't once show that it may have been better with a bigger wad of cash behind it - as the festival presenter said, big bucks are not necessary for a great film. Dominic Kinniard puts in a great performance as Frank, a middle-aged man with mild autism and learning difficulties, whose days are spent happily playing pool down the local pub, and driving his carer Sally mad with endless playthroughs of his beloved Liverpool cup final videos.
One day, his estranged sister Carol rings with news of their mother (played by Ma Boswell, aka Jean Boht), who is becoming increasingly difficult to care for, and could he spend some time in the old family house to take some pressure off and help look after her.
Carol has made things as comfortable as possible for Frank; his old bedroom, his favourite Liverpool FC duvet and posters, and the old portable telly are back in the places he left them so long ago, and its clear from the off that Carol wants Frank to stay a while when she goes out and takes the key. But when Carol starts taking away Franks freedoms it's clear that the goings on within the old family house are not all they seem.
Especially with it's meagre budget, Kin delivers great performances by the four cast members and a genuinely disturbing, claustrophobic situation that the viewer quickly becomes both enthralled and troubled by. Nicola Marsland gives Carol a truly menacing edge, though not without also generating empathy for what is clearly a broken soul desperately in need of a stabiliser, and the whole story is carried along with the question of how Frank can escape his captor when she knows his every facet and with each turn his freedoms are eroded still further, or whether he should stay in the house for the sake of his mother and sister. Kin is one of those films where little is said but much is hinted at, the little scraps of story suggested in the sparse scripting firing the imagination to think of the backstories of the characters and how Frank was treated by Carol in their formative years, and the dark humour keeping it from being depressing.
Brian Walsh, Dominik Kinnard and Nicola Marsland were all present for a Q+A at the end of the film, where the director revealed his inspirations for the film, the casting process and some of the trials of working on a shoestring budget, which was an extra bonus. 8/10
My guard was up on this one; amongst other things, Houston is billed as a look at the American oil crisis in a slightly different manner to what you would usually expect, that is, talking with the oil companies and seeing that far from enjoying their status as purveyors of black gold, they are falling on hard times (relatively) and it turns out they actually saw the oil problems coming, and lobbied for research into more sustainable energies back in the 70's. I don't know about you, but that smacked of a controversial right-leaning film attempting to paper over the problems and blame someone else. Despite some initial signs of this, such as well-off oil men laughing about what the average joe thinks about where they get their tank of petrol from (whilst living it up on a private jet), I'm happy to say the film did not give me further reason to think the facts contained within were so sugar coated.
Beginning with the events of the late 60's, where America was producing oil at a rate that pushed the price of a barrel down to $3 and people couldn't shift the stuff from the gas stations, the administration of the time took the decision to artificially withhold its availability in order to get the price back up to a more reasonable rate for the sake of the survival of the industry. By the mid-70's this was working and the price had doubled, but new problems were on the cards; increasing reliance on oil from the middle-east coupled with the increasing cold war brewing over in Russia. When the Reagan administration came into power they upped the prices of oil once more in order to bankrupt the Russians and bring a swift end to the cold-war conflict before it could get off the ground. The increasing price of barrels had unfortunately driven custom away from the Americans and were instead going to the Middle East, who by now had decided that the oil being drained from under their feet was theirs to sell for themselves, and thus took steps in the intervening years to make sure it was their companies drilling for it.
All this leaves America in a bit of a pickle, fuel wise, and as the film states, several successive presidents since the Carter era have had the opportunity to do something about it but have faltered after the campaigns died down and the job of actually running the country set in.
Fortunately, the film doesn't dwell on any one area of this rather large issue too much, it flits between the history of the crisis, the wildcat diviners who would go in search of new seams to exploit, and the people who are trying to do something about it; the latter refreshingly taking up the last segment of the film, showing us there are people out there, not just the backyard experimenters, who are investing in ways to remove dependence from oil (although this refreshing news is tempered somewhat when it's clear environmental concerns take second priority to ensuring America is not at the whim of other countries for its energy needs). Algae generating bio-diesel, huge solar panel and wind farms, nuclear and thermo-electric technologies are all apparently finally receiving the attention they need to become the producers of the future.
Though not directly related to the energy concerns of the UK or Europe, this film is still interesting and relevant for anyone who is troubled about where we are going as a world with our energy use, and what the most consumptive nations on the planet are doing about it. 8/10
The Butterfly Tattoo (UK) (site/wiki)
Based on the book of the same name by Philip Pullman, which was itself a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, The Butterfly Tattoo is in the unfortunate situation of having its audience know what will happen at the end before the start of the film, and as with many films in this situation, it gets around this by showing the finality of the story in the opening credits: A young man finds his love dead on the floor, and overcome with grief brings the weapon to his chest to take his own life.
We then go back several days to the source of the event, where middle-class lighting engineer Chris saves free-spirited but posh Jenny from the attentions of an Oxford oik at a midnight party. A little detective work on her discarded dress leads him to her flat, and a love affair begins to blossom, much to oiky's distaste and Jenny's coffee-shop co-workers' intrigue. What could have been an oft-trodden story of the sheltered Chris's descent into Jenny's decadent world turns out not to happen, but instead concentrates on endearing the viewer to the couple, so on the slow push towards the pair's eventual demise we don't want what we know will happen to happen, which thanks to the whisperings, events and misunderstandings of the pair and the people around them we are powerless to stop.
The Butterfly Tattoo is solidly made, well written (if you can ignore some of the clunkier novel-to-screen dialogue in the film's early stages), and constantly twisting and swerving as it makes its way towards its final conclusion. The two main roles were excellently delivered, and that necessary spark required for a convincing romantic encounter was present and correct. It was fresh, original, and kept the attention. A perfect film for a couple of romantics to watch. 8/10
Kin (UK) (synopsis)
Brian Welsh's first film is on a shoestring budget of £12.5K. It is clear that the locations didn't require the budget of, say, Transformers, and you might expect this film to suffer in quality with such a tight restriction, but the resulting film doesn't once show that it may have been better with a bigger wad of cash behind it - as the festival presenter said, big bucks are not necessary for a great film. Dominic Kinniard puts in a great performance as Frank, a middle-aged man with mild autism and learning difficulties, whose days are spent happily playing pool down the local pub, and driving his carer Sally mad with endless playthroughs of his beloved Liverpool cup final videos.
One day, his estranged sister Carol rings with news of their mother (played by Ma Boswell, aka Jean Boht), who is becoming increasingly difficult to care for, and could he spend some time in the old family house to take some pressure off and help look after her.
Carol has made things as comfortable as possible for Frank; his old bedroom, his favourite Liverpool FC duvet and posters, and the old portable telly are back in the places he left them so long ago, and its clear from the off that Carol wants Frank to stay a while when she goes out and takes the key. But when Carol starts taking away Franks freedoms it's clear that the goings on within the old family house are not all they seem.
Especially with it's meagre budget, Kin delivers great performances by the four cast members and a genuinely disturbing, claustrophobic situation that the viewer quickly becomes both enthralled and troubled by. Nicola Marsland gives Carol a truly menacing edge, though not without also generating empathy for what is clearly a broken soul desperately in need of a stabiliser, and the whole story is carried along with the question of how Frank can escape his captor when she knows his every facet and with each turn his freedoms are eroded still further, or whether he should stay in the house for the sake of his mother and sister. Kin is one of those films where little is said but much is hinted at, the little scraps of story suggested in the sparse scripting firing the imagination to think of the backstories of the characters and how Frank was treated by Carol in their formative years, and the dark humour keeping it from being depressing.
Brian Walsh, Dominik Kinnard and Nicola Marsland were all present for a Q+A at the end of the film, where the director revealed his inspirations for the film, the casting process and some of the trials of working on a shoestring budget, which was an extra bonus. 8/10
Cambridge Film Festival 2009 Day 1
Another year, another trip to Cambridge. It's over now, but the festival is still in full swing, but unfortunately neither myself nor Ms. Plants had the holiday entitlements or the money to stay the full course. But we did have four days of punting, shopping, beautiful sunshine, and of course, films.
Courting Condi (US) (site/wiki)
We started with an oddity of sorts; Devin Ratray is heading out of his thirties, he's generous around the chops, and sports a mullet that he contests is his defining characteristic. Not the best candidate for the wooing of Condoleezza Rice, previously the head of foreign affairs under the Bush administration. Making use of his piano skills, and enlisting the help of his film-making friend Sebastian, he sets off on a journey to discover who this woman is that has captured his heart, and win her over with his 'love discs' - love letters in song form. Maybe he will even get to meet with her. Leaving his parents he travels across the US, to the places where Condi grew up and her life decisions were made, taking us with him on a journey into what made her the woman she is today.
Though Devin is entertaining and often amusing, and he can keep up the pretence for a while, it does become clear that the hapless lovelorn romantic is an act, nothing more than a framing device for a documentary that tries to show that Ms Rice has forgotten her roots, turning her back on the idealist principles that brought her to the White House, and replacing them with the realist world view (if you can call it that) that replaced it under post 9/11 Bush, and the strategic power-shifts made as she worked her way up the ladder which arguably closed the door on those people trying to follow in her wake.
Courting Condi was funny, informative, and an original take on the documentary format that is becoming ever more numerous on the festival circuit. It did, however leave a slightly nasty taste in the mouth, because in being a 'docu-tragi-comedy' it began with the comedy part and then largely dropped it midway through, sneaking in the more serious concerns underneath when the viewer wasn't looking. It's not the worst crime in the world, but it felt a little dishonest, like if MacDonalds tried to sneak in vitamin pills with their Big Macs without telling anyone. 7.5/10
Mental (Japan) (site/interview)
In the same style as last year's Don't Get Me Wrong, Mental is a 'slice of life' documentary window into the lives of mental patients who maintain semi-independent lives in a downtown prefecture of Tokyo. The place is run on a shoestring, with very basic and diminishing government grants, supporting a doctors' surgery, a small cafe, and a walk-in centre for patients to use as they require; this film shows that they are in ever greater demand, even though Japanese society still views such conditions as schizophrenia, suicidal tendencies and learning difficulties as cultural taboo.
Never emerging from behind the camera, Kazuhiro Soda lets the patients and staff do the talking, asking only the minimum questions in order to get the stories to be told. One extended dialogue with a young mother who killed her first child and had the second one taken away from her is both chilling and heartbreaking.
There are also positive sides to the lives of these people reflected in the film. Dr Yamamoto is the surgery's only resident doctor, and it is clear that he is not there for the money. Working as a locum on a fraction of the pay he would normally get, he lends his considerable years' expertise both to the running of the surgery and on his many lectures to students at the local college. Of the most delight is the ageing Sensei's pearls of wisdom to the many troubles posed to him by his patients, often being accompanied by charming zen-post-it note diagrams to nudge the point home. Another star of the film is Sugoya, a toothy middle-aged man who spends much of his time alone, ostracised by his community and finding only the commune a place where he can share his thoughts with anyone. Finding himself in a small group, he finds the courage to share with other patients (and us) his book of poems and haiku, which were short but charming, if only he could get a publisher.
The film has only one major thing going against it, and that is, for a film which is purely slice of life, without the bangs and crashes of an action film, nor the revelations and shocks of an investigative documentary, its 2h 15m timespan will put off audiences already thinned out by the upfront premise; but if you have an interest in non-judgemental slice of life works, the unseen people who work to make our communities what they are, mental health issues, or the corners of society that could so easily be considered worthless or slip through the gaps, then I recommend giving this slow burner a go. 7.5/10
Courting Condi (US) (site/wiki)
We started with an oddity of sorts; Devin Ratray is heading out of his thirties, he's generous around the chops, and sports a mullet that he contests is his defining characteristic. Not the best candidate for the wooing of Condoleezza Rice, previously the head of foreign affairs under the Bush administration. Making use of his piano skills, and enlisting the help of his film-making friend Sebastian, he sets off on a journey to discover who this woman is that has captured his heart, and win her over with his 'love discs' - love letters in song form. Maybe he will even get to meet with her. Leaving his parents he travels across the US, to the places where Condi grew up and her life decisions were made, taking us with him on a journey into what made her the woman she is today.
Though Devin is entertaining and often amusing, and he can keep up the pretence for a while, it does become clear that the hapless lovelorn romantic is an act, nothing more than a framing device for a documentary that tries to show that Ms Rice has forgotten her roots, turning her back on the idealist principles that brought her to the White House, and replacing them with the realist world view (if you can call it that) that replaced it under post 9/11 Bush, and the strategic power-shifts made as she worked her way up the ladder which arguably closed the door on those people trying to follow in her wake.
Courting Condi was funny, informative, and an original take on the documentary format that is becoming ever more numerous on the festival circuit. It did, however leave a slightly nasty taste in the mouth, because in being a 'docu-tragi-comedy' it began with the comedy part and then largely dropped it midway through, sneaking in the more serious concerns underneath when the viewer wasn't looking. It's not the worst crime in the world, but it felt a little dishonest, like if MacDonalds tried to sneak in vitamin pills with their Big Macs without telling anyone. 7.5/10
Mental (Japan) (site/interview)
In the same style as last year's Don't Get Me Wrong, Mental is a 'slice of life' documentary window into the lives of mental patients who maintain semi-independent lives in a downtown prefecture of Tokyo. The place is run on a shoestring, with very basic and diminishing government grants, supporting a doctors' surgery, a small cafe, and a walk-in centre for patients to use as they require; this film shows that they are in ever greater demand, even though Japanese society still views such conditions as schizophrenia, suicidal tendencies and learning difficulties as cultural taboo.
Never emerging from behind the camera, Kazuhiro Soda lets the patients and staff do the talking, asking only the minimum questions in order to get the stories to be told. One extended dialogue with a young mother who killed her first child and had the second one taken away from her is both chilling and heartbreaking.
There are also positive sides to the lives of these people reflected in the film. Dr Yamamoto is the surgery's only resident doctor, and it is clear that he is not there for the money. Working as a locum on a fraction of the pay he would normally get, he lends his considerable years' expertise both to the running of the surgery and on his many lectures to students at the local college. Of the most delight is the ageing Sensei's pearls of wisdom to the many troubles posed to him by his patients, often being accompanied by charming zen-post-it note diagrams to nudge the point home. Another star of the film is Sugoya, a toothy middle-aged man who spends much of his time alone, ostracised by his community and finding only the commune a place where he can share his thoughts with anyone. Finding himself in a small group, he finds the courage to share with other patients (and us) his book of poems and haiku, which were short but charming, if only he could get a publisher.
The film has only one major thing going against it, and that is, for a film which is purely slice of life, without the bangs and crashes of an action film, nor the revelations and shocks of an investigative documentary, its 2h 15m timespan will put off audiences already thinned out by the upfront premise; but if you have an interest in non-judgemental slice of life works, the unseen people who work to make our communities what they are, mental health issues, or the corners of society that could so easily be considered worthless or slip through the gaps, then I recommend giving this slow burner a go. 7.5/10
Cambridge Film Festival 2009
Last year's festival was great fun if a little pricey (you pay extra for being in a town of posh people), so this year we're just going for the first four days. Ms. Plants has upped the ante this year by matching me film for film, so her poor eyes will be falling out as much as mine will. And we've got to get back to our B+B about 2am after one particularly long film session, which should be fun. A couple of diet cokes should get her suffciently buzzing enough to make it through :)
Plenty of films on, as always, and I'll be reporting back on our days over there as normal. If you have some time to spare between 17 and 27 September, there will be plenty to amuse and entertain. I recommend heartily Mary and Max, my current favourite 2009 film, which unfortunately is on long after we've left for chillier climes, along with the sumptuous, if a little long Seraphine about the unlikely French painter, and Humpday which though undeniably rude does look like a big laugh. There's also a fresh set of reprints of classic films, such as From Russia With Love (the best of the Bond films), The Red Shoes (often cited as the most beautiful film made), The Third Man and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
There's also an event called Science on Screen, organised by the New Humanist magazine, which will show a number of films connected with various controversies in the science-religion-ethics area of things. Creation is a timely Darwin biography, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is an infamous film regarding the criticisms of those who want ID taught in schools as an alternative to Evolutionary theory, House of Numbers, regarding the source of AIDS epidemic, and The Nature of Existence, a documentary exploring the wide diversity of belief in the world. We'll be trying to catch as much of it as possible, and up on here it will go.
Oh, and a not-unrelated upcoming post will explain where I've been all this time. Stay tuned.
Plenty of films on, as always, and I'll be reporting back on our days over there as normal. If you have some time to spare between 17 and 27 September, there will be plenty to amuse and entertain. I recommend heartily Mary and Max, my current favourite 2009 film, which unfortunately is on long after we've left for chillier climes, along with the sumptuous, if a little long Seraphine about the unlikely French painter, and Humpday which though undeniably rude does look like a big laugh. There's also a fresh set of reprints of classic films, such as From Russia With Love (the best of the Bond films), The Red Shoes (often cited as the most beautiful film made), The Third Man and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
There's also an event called Science on Screen, organised by the New Humanist magazine, which will show a number of films connected with various controversies in the science-religion-ethics area of things. Creation is a timely Darwin biography, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is an infamous film regarding the criticisms of those who want ID taught in schools as an alternative to Evolutionary theory, House of Numbers, regarding the source of AIDS epidemic, and The Nature of Existence, a documentary exploring the wide diversity of belief in the world. We'll be trying to catch as much of it as possible, and up on here it will go.
Oh, and a not-unrelated upcoming post will explain where I've been all this time. Stay tuned.
Cambridge Film Festival 2009
Another year, another trip to Cambridge on its way. We'll be heading south in a little over a month's time to visit the 29th International Film Festival. Though not as all-encompassing as last year, we'll be catching a good wodge of films, plus a few other things to break up the eye torture, such as haggling for a punt down the Cam, and perhaps a trip to Linton Zoo to see if Oboe is still there. I'll be posting up the film reviews amongst other things shortly afterwards.
The film list isn't up yet, I would guess that will be up around mid-August, but the short film list has just been posted to whet our appetites.
The film list isn't up yet, I would guess that will be up around mid-August, but the short film list has just been posted to whet our appetites.
The Golden Plantpots 2008
Since I've seen so many films this year at Cambridge and Leeds, I thought I'd have a little fun in an Oscars stylee, bigging up respec' to the best output I've seen this year. There are also a couple of awards for the stinkers out there in the shape of the Cracked Pots, or the 'Manky Sankeys'.
If you take issue with the decisions I've taken, please tell me what you would include instead.
Best Film - Black Ice (Germany/Finland)There were funnier films and films with more impact, but Black Ice had great big gobs of suspense, emotion, some good laughs, a twisting unpredictable plot, and believable characters revolving around the concept of a highly spun web of lies. It won because it was the most complete film.
Honourable Mentions:
- Moscow Belgium (Belgium)
A funny, sharp and brilliantly acted slice of life story of a harassed 40-something woman and her chance encounter with a disgruntled truck driver, giving them both something they were missing in their lives. A really good film and top of the list for a long while.
- Empties (Czech Republic)
Growing old is not about giving up on life. This warm, funny end to the trilogy of Jan Sverak was consistently entertaining to the end.
Best Short Film - The Pearce Sisters (UK)Comparing short films against full length features is unfair, so I separated them out. The Pearce Sisters is a fantastic animation that leaps out of the screen at you. A tight story, never dragging shows the desperate, lonely and often disgusting lives of two sisters living on a beach, making use of the flotsam that washes ashore.
Honourable Mentions:
- There's Only One Bob Latchford (UK)
Nostalgia for childhood is exploited to the full in this funny and warm tribute to young love and collecting football stickers.
- Skhizein (France)
An inventive animation which is told in an entertaining and accessible way. What would happen if you occupied a space that was a metre away from where you should be?
- You, Me and Captain Longbridge (UK)
An emotional window onto the world of a son who has lost his father and uses his imagination and the beautiful countryside he lives in as a way of coping.
- On the Line (Germany)
A short film about the power to make decisions and the consequences of doing them (or not). On The Line stirred up emotion and built suspense very well.
- Mother, Mine (UK)
A woman's seemingly innocent attempt to reunite with her mother starts as a quiet, personal journey, before taking a very dark and unexpected twist.
Best Animation - Mind Game (Japan)Mind Game was a rollercoaster ride philosophising over the nature of existence, second chances, love and sex, and the human will to overcome and survive. These relatively normal themes were wrapped into a selection of comstantly morphing unique animation styles, with an inventiveness off the scale to the extent it felt like the brain-dump of a madman. You will never see anything like it.
Honourable Mentions:
- Sword of the Stranger (Japan)
This anime won no awards for originality, but it had a solid, complex plot, a recognisable, smooth style (from a good lineage) and kept up pace right to the end.
- The Pearce Sisters (UK)
The smoothness of the animation was a thing to behold in this short film, each character was given three-dimensional life on a 2D surface.
- Skhizein (France)
A unique concept and a likeable style made this short film very watchable.
Best Documentary - One Minute to Nine (USA)This powerful and disturbing film opens up slowly to reveal the true extent of the devastation of one womans' life and her actions to protect her children. Quietly played without all the kerayzee zoom-in-zoom-out becoming typical of American 'factual' programs these days. Well made and effectively chilling to the bone.
Honourable Mentions:
- The End of Poverty? (USA)
The sheer amount of information packed into this film cannot be ignored, it attempts and succeeds to explain just how the world economy has got to this point; where slavery is more alive than ever and on a truly global scale.
- 1000 Journals (USA)
An entertaining account of an experiment. Send out 1000 plain journals into the world to encourage anyone who picks it up to express themselves in the pages. For such a simple concept, the film didn't drag and remained entertaining throughout.
- Blood Trail (UK)
The passion and determination of one man to do what urges him on - to go to the most war-torn parts of the world and commit whatever he sees to film is an accomplished chronicle of the last fifteen years of his life.
- Fire Under the Snow (USA)
The Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso spent many years in prison, suffering horrendous torture and seeing his fellow peaceful demostrators break and die, all for standing up for their right to practice the Buddhist faith. This film is testamount to the endless patience and forgiveness of the man, who is still actively involved in demonstrations today.
- Chomsky & Co (France)
Though this film suffered a little for being largely in French with subtitles, and thus sometimes hard to keep up with, it was still a fascinating look into the mind of the much acclaimed and criticized intellectual Noam Chomsky, his supporters and his opponents as they share their views on war propaganda, marketing and how people use words, not swords to get their way these days.
Emotional Kick - Time To Die (Poland)Time to Die doesn't reveal itself completely at the start of the film. This slow burner took a good long while to get going, but by the end of the film, it surprised me just how much I cared about the central character, and the ending stirred up the strongest emotion of all films I've seen this year. If you decide to go to Time to Die, and I encourage you to do, be prepared for a slow burner.
Honourable Mentions:
- Blind Loves (Slovakia)
This documentary-but-not was very good at sharing the four stories with the audience. There was no voice-over narration, so it was left to the camera (and some affectionate animation effects) to tell their stories without judgement. A very nice film.
- Out of Time (Germany)
The ever-disappearing sight of bespoke shops on the highstreet, many of which have supported several generations of family is not one restricted to any part of the world, and this collection of stories of those who face the end of an era was increasingly touching as the film progressed.
- One Minute to Nine (USA)
The story of one woman's final days of freedom before being sent to prison for the crimes she committed was a powerful and affecting work.
Twist Award - Mother, Mine (UK)The beauty of this short film was its ability to creep up on the viewer and change your perception of everything you had watched, in the last few minutes of celluloid.
Honourable Mentions:
- Black Ice (Germany/Finland)
The ability of Saara to move from contented housewife to amateur spy to spinner of tangled webs of deceit to get close to her prey was full of twists and turns as the stakes got higher and she teetered on the edge of being found out.
Cleverest Film - Black Ice (Germany/Finland)The amount of inventiveness in the plot of this thriller means it gets another plantpot. There was no telling what was going to happen next or how Saara was going to handle it. Compelling to the end.
Honourable Mentions:
- Mind Game (Japan)
How to mess with the head. This film was inventive to a fault and had my mind racing long after it all ended.
- Rumba (Belgium/France)
Rumba gets in because it contained some of the cleverest physical scenes I've seen. The dancing silhouette scene in particular is extremely well done, especially as there are no computers involved.
- Dream (South Korea)
Kim Ki-Duk's latest was a solid effort, and the theme of two people locked together by their dreams was a great plot device.
- Skhizein (France)
The computer concepts of 3D space and transformations are made into accessible entertainment here as a man is knocked out of his own space by a meteorite.
Biggest Laugh - Dachimawa Lee (South Korea)You can always leave it to the eastern countries to create the crazy stuff, and this year was no exception. Dachimawa Lee played like a cross between James Bond, Bruce Lee and Austin Powers, with a little bit of Dick Tracy thrown in for good measure. Constantly pacey, camp, clumzy, smart and slick, it kept everyone laughing to the end.
Honourable Mentions:
- Detroit Metal City (Japan)
Just a fraction below Dachimawa Lee, Detroit Metal City shows the contrasting persona's of a man trying to express himself in the worlds of cutesy bands and death metal rock. Funny, energetic, mad and more than a little rude, this had the audience in stitches many times.
- The Juche Idea (Korea)
Though this film had a number of weak areas, the loud orange man who took part in the 'English as a Capitalist Language' sections was so unintentionally hilarious as to make the whole film worth it.
- Mind Game (Japan)
It was just too mad not to be funny. Mind Game grabbed hold of you and didn't let go to the very end, entertaining and often amusing greatly as it went.
Best Indie to Show Your Friends - Black Ice (Germany/Finland)It's got to be Black Ice simply because it has everything - high suspense, complex plot, emotion, laughs. It's the perfect all-rounder.
Honourable Mentions:
- Rumba (Belgium/France)
Rumba is particularly suited because it is largely devoid of dialogue, instead leaving it to the principal characters to express their feelings via their dance numbers. It sounds a bit rough on paper, but worked really well.
- My Name is Bruce (US)
If you love horror films, then this one is an ideal crossover into the area of comedy and spoof, with Bruce Campbell sending himself up brilliantly. If you don't like horror films, don't worry - there's enough laughs without including the horror film references, and the baddies are deliberately unconvincing to give that authentic B-movie feel.
- Dachimawa Lee (South Korea)
A great film to show people if they have any doubts an eastern film can be funny. Sharp and entertaining, and plenty of laughs both in dialogue and some excellent physical gags.
The Manky Sankey Awards
These awards are given to some true stinkers that I had the displeasure to see.
Biggest Let Down - She Unfolds By Day (USA)This was just such a missed opportunity. The first warning sign was that the director of the film requested that a synopsis be read out prior to the screening. Then there was the fact that the film had been rejected once a few years ago and only accepted after heavy editing. Much less than a serious biography into the slow loss of a person to Altzeimers, and much more a choppily edited set of indulgant, repetitive holiday movies about the guys' dog, which ended inconeivably with the son and carer leaving the old bag to fend for herself.
Dishonourable Mentions:
- 57000km Between Us (France)
A film declared as a look into a family who is distanced despite the prevelence of technology around them that should enhance it descended into an arthousy flick that was French in all the wrong ways.
- From Inside (USA)
The premise of a film made by a single person has been done many times, often with an endearing and forgiveable roughness to it. Makoto Shinkai's Voices of a Distant Star springs immediately to mind. Even though From Inside was far from awful, its disjointed storyline and use of a computerised train from all different angles became tiring and in some places, where it tried to be deep and meaningful, became the source of guffaws from the audience, who had clearly had enough.
- Drifter (Brazil)
The documentary was about the loneliness of the drifter on the streets of Brazil, and as such, you might rightly expect some of it to include quiet, sombre moments. However, it was full to the brim with them, the scene with the two streetlights and the annoying screechy music for five or more minutes being the worst, causing a good third of the audience to walk out.
Most Pretentious - 57000km Between Us (France)There is nothing more unhelpful than showing your friends an indie film that just doesn't work and having them not wanting to touch another non-mainstream film as long as they live. This film is one such example, its depiction of perversion and stupid vomit-inducing closeups and drowning transvestites must have made the director think they were saying something very clever, but they were not.
Dishonourable Mentions:
- Akmeni [Stones] (Latvia)
A man with some green plastic bags looks for men and boys for a mysterious purpose. Sounds like a reasonable pretence for a short film. Let me save you the trouble. The green bags meant nothing. The men and boys requirement meant nothing, because they could easily have been female. They were being rounded up to stand in a field to act as placeholders for some art git to place stones in their place for some sort of artistic statement. I wanted to hit them in the face.
- Drifter (Brazil)
Hugely pretentious. The actual content of this film could be extracted to make a half-hours TV documentary, including the many advert breaks you would get in something like that. The rest of the 80 minutes were taken up with filler, the director betting with himself how long he can keep a camera trained on a scene with nothing happening.
Most Drawn Out Scene - Drifter (Brazil)It couldn't be topped. Drifter was made out of several stretched out and largely pointless scenes that stayed long beyond what a normal person would think of as a 'a reflective consideration of the hours of nothingness spent as a drifter' and well into the realms of 'I have nothing else to put in this film, so lets have five minutes of streetlamps'.
Dishonourable Mentions:
- She Unfolds By Day (USA)
There were plenty of scenes which were repeated over and over, barely changing each time, but the worst one was a protracted trial of endurance in the centre where the dog - the most bearable part of the film - spent many minutes running about the snow in the back garden. Again, and again, and again. What might be lovely for the director is not of much interest to the average filmgoer and was just an exercise in selfish indulgence.
- Halib Ix-Xitan [Hells Dispite] (Malta)
The twin drawn out scenes in question involved a snails-pace panning across the scene of an accident, first from the front of the car to the stunned occupants inside, and lastly from the front wheel to the woman sprawled out on the floor several feet away. Slow reveals are all well and good, but this took the mick right royally.
- Going to Sleep is Something Absolutely Certain in Life (Italy)
Though it was not the worst film of the festival by a long shot, the entire thing was one shot on a train, moving through the night and looking out of the window, only the light from the train to illuminate the scenes of devastation beyond. It had moments of shock as you got to see the effects of some serious natural catastrophe or the sticking plasters put in place here and there to get things working again, but largely it was fallen tree followed by knackered fence.
Most Annoying Film - 57000km Between Us (France)A film that managed to actually feel malace towards it, it was so bad. The camera angles, the disjointed switching between story segments, the 'why did that just happen' moments... it went on and on, and we were clock-watching almost from the start.
Dishonourable Mentions:
- Battery (UK)
Surrealism is often a subject that can divide opinions, and this short film just bothered me from the start. The ditchable scrawly art style, if it can even be called that was annoying, and the whole thing had no purpose. Bloke sat down to dinner with bird-people, who melted, and then he said something and then they were back again. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.
- Drifter (Brazil)
Truly annoying. When you pay good money and end up looking at 5-minute segments of streetlamps and hazy back roads with a muzakal accompaniment that will set the teeth on edge, you know you've hit festival rock bottom.
Right. That's definitely all my festival output for the year. I don't care if I never see another film again. At least not till next time.
Cambridge Film Festival 2008 - Part 2
Carrying on from the earlier post, this is the second half of our stay.24th September
Today was all about the past.
House On the Hill Toy Museum and Mountfitchet Castle (site)
After a bit of a lie in, we decided to try and repeat yesterdays' 'random-direction-find-nice-thing' train of thought and headed off south down the A10 towards Royston. After some driving through the rain, we still hadn't seen any green fun signs, so we checked the map. Bishops Stortford seemed to contain a few of the little symbols and was only a few miles due east, so we cut our losses and headed towards a castle symbol, which turned out to be Mountfitchet Castle, on the edge of Stanstead Airport.First impressions for a castle were.. odd. Firstly, it was next to a railway station, in a valley; not the most secure of places to stick a castle traditionally. Second, as we looked around, there was nothing castle-shaped on the horizon. Still, we'd paid our car park fee now, so it was going to bloody well entertain us for the next hour at least.
Still feeling the twitches of excitement, I bounded into the gift shop/tickets area and asked for two tickets, only then realising, as Ms. Plants had done, that the tickets were £8.50 each. Still, this is London (ish) so us northerners should bite the bullet and enjoy ourselves regardless of the price.
Good news then that the tickets weren't just for the castle - you were also able to take the magical wonder trail to the House on the Hill toy museum too! The trail ended up being a gravel path round the edge of the castle grounds, featuring a talking tree to entertain you as you passed by. I say a 'talking tree' - I guess that's put you in mind of some magical moving tree with arm-branches that sway about, or at least a big plastic tree-like structure with a moulded face and perhaps some light bulbs for eyes. It was in fact, just a standard, slightly dead tree that had a loudspeaker stuck in it.
For some random reason, the toy museum was at the top of a big slope (the hill) and was surrounded by large plastic dinosaurs and cavemen, and a rocket, as if some theme park was having a clear out one day and they decided the outside of the museum needed some novelty garden ornaments. Some dinosaurs spoke to us, via the deftly concealed crackly speaker hidden under a handful of sticks placed somewhere in the vicinity, and the odd amusing sign about dinosaurs eating parents for being grumpy rounded out the prelude.
Once inside, well. It was a haven for the toys and games and giant life-size mannequins of yesteyear. Del and Rodney's Robin Reliant sat comfortably against a Dalek and a Police Box, with Bagatelles, Beatles Posters and Baboons in Shades littering the place. Directly opposite the entrance was possibly the strangest sight; several lifesize Star Wars figures - Chewie, Yoda and an Imperial Stormtrooper among others - were standing diligently in a thin glass cage, looking less like they were in the middle of a film and more like they had all just encountered each other in a lift and were trying not to make eye contact. Somewhere in the chaos, we received a weary 'Hello' from the curator, who beckoned us to come in. That Reliant really was used in one of the shows, we can inform you.Room upon room of densely-packed displays of toys greeted us. Thousands of dinky-toys, rusting Meccano cranes, huge crèches of dolls, some old arcade cabinets (Robocop looked a little peaky) Lego bricks on one of those tables for the kids to play on (ripe for rude word education) and battered, torn comic annuals were to pour over, and to be fair, this part was pretty good for going down memory lane. Countless times we both did a 'I had one of those' followed by a sigh of fond remembrance.
It would have been fine, except for the things that didn't quite go in a toy museum. Life-size models of the Beatles, for one; looking shifty and a little scary, or perhaps the miniature Lady Di shrine, where one of the main pulling points (a bike she rode as a kid) was proudly displayed in what I guess in some peoples' eyes is a major coup. Lastly were a few of the displays, where you could press a button, or even just walk by, and the dolls inside would start up and re-animate themselves like the evil dead. Worse still for some of the kids, some of them weren't working right and so you'd get a single eye moving around in its socket instead of both of them, or an arm wrenched away from the body as the doll tried to raise itself from the grave that was its bed. It was all a bit disquieting, especially as there was almost no-one else around.
Feeling we had quite enough, we said our goodbyes to the scary dolls, Yoda and the cavemen and headed back under the talking tree to the castle entrance. By now at least the skies were blue, and it was a good thing too. Mountfitchet castle was a castle in the Norman sense of the word. In otherwords, no large, imposing structure you could walk around, rather a large field shielded by staked fences, containing stone huts and a few wooden lookout towers. For what it was, there was a certain amount of entertainment to be had; each of the huts had been kitted out with a presentation of Saxon or Norman life, complete with hidden speakers and buttons to press. Both the sights and smells of England of the time had been recreated, with the sort of smells you encounter in the Jorvik Viking Museum being put to shame. The whole area was also home to a number of rescue animals such as hens, goats, deer and ducks, who all had got used to the constant influx of people and were enjoying whatever titbits they could wangle out of people. Quite understandably, the whole place had been commandeered by an army of schoolchildren who were climbing everywhere, pressing all the buttons, and generally burning energy, and I would say that is essentially the target market for the place.A Matter of Life and Death (UK 1946) (wiki)
A Matter of Life and Death was one of those films I had been told about but never saw, and hearing it was being shown, in a restored print, no less, was an opportunity I was not going to pass up. It is a story about Peter, a World War 2 pilot who is the only survivor of his plane crew after a bombing raid. The plane is still in the air but in bad shape, and surviving a landing is out. His final message before bailing out to his certain death is to June, a US radio officer on the ground. In the few minutes they spend talking to each other, they fall in love, and then feeling that the situation is hopeless, Peter bails out.
But he is not killed. Instead he washes ashore and finds June, and quickly they become inseperable; but there is something wrong in heaven - Peter should have died, and when the powers that be send someone down for him, he challenges them by appealing the decision, and has his case tried out in celestial court.
For a film made over 60 years ago (one of the first in colour, and one of the first to mix colour [down on earth] and black and white [up in heaven] sequences), this new print looked like it had been made yesterday, and the originality of the plot and the sharpness of the script made it a great classic film. If you can put up with some slightly cheesy special effects and a few plum accents, it's heartily recommended. 8/10
Dr Strangelove (UK 1964) (wiki)
Our second film was also an oldie. Dr Strangelove is a deeply satirical film by Stanley Kubrick, someone who is very good at dividing an audience. Its about what happens when you give the big red button to someone who perhaps is not best placed to decide when to press it. In this case, the increasingly demented General Jack D Ripper launches a nuclear air raid attack on Russia, because the voices in his head were getting a bit too loud. Peter Sellers plays three parts in the movie; GC Lionel Mandrake, the nervous and very English officer caught in the sights of Rippers' delusions and perhaps the only man able to stop him; the President of the USA, Merkin Muffley, the hard nosed politician dealing with the soviets and hot-headed generals in the War Room; and Dr Strangelove himself, an ex-Nazi scientist who came up with the doomsday device that will automatically trigger armageddon in the event of a bomb hitting Soviet soil.
Though there were some good laughs in the film, not to mention the iconic scenes ('Gentlemen - you can't fight in here, this is the war room!' and Major Kong riding the nuclear bomb as has been parodied many times), but by the end we both felt it was missing something, or that we hadn't fully grasped what was being satirised. Perhaps a second viewing is in order sometime.. 5/10
25th September
Central Cambridge
We had been round the centre of Cambridge a bit before this point, but today we would have a proper go, concentrating mainly around the Cam and the university buildings. A good place to get bearings is Great St. Mary's Church, where you can climb the 125 or so steps to the top of the tower and get some good pictures of the architecture and the market place. We also went for a punt after being badgered on the high street by a studenty type. (Tip: never take their first offer - the price will always come down if you haggle) and got some gorgeous pics in the midday sun.
We stopped off by Kings College Chapel and fantasized about setting dogs on the poor people if we owned the Gibbs Building, did some possible trespassing into areas that may have been student-only, but were not signposted either way, and after taking a few piccies and looking round the nearby shops, called it a day.
Strength and Honour (Ireland 2007) (site)The only film of the day will be shortly released nationwide. Strength and Honour is set in Ireland - or at least a Holywood varient of it - and is about the retired boxer Sean, who hasn't gone in the ring since killing his sparring partner by accident. Now a widower, his young son needs surgery to stop him dying of the same cause that took his mother. Sean himself, played by Michael Madsen, is the good guy that the audience gets behind, and his foil comes in the form of Smasher, an unredeemable and violent figure played by Vinnie Jones, the current and undefeated holder of 'the puck' - the bareknuckle boxing crown held by the gypsy folk of Ireland. Without going into detail just where the gypsies come up with it, the title comes with a prize of £300k, just enough to pay for flights and medical treatment.
So the main ingredients are in place, and with the additional audience manipulation of Sean having to sell his house, live with a pack of gypsies, and when it shows him react with soul-searching and modest reservation when his new motorhome gets smeared with crap, we're all rooting for him. I don't need to give the ending away because it's pretty obvious what happens, but the journey is quite entertaining. The bare-knuckle fighting is surprisingly raw and can be uncomfortable to watch, and dispite being full of the sort of cliche these films carry (yes, the training montage is present and correct) it is enjoyable. Seeing Richard Chaimberlain out of retirement in the 'Mickey Goldmill' slot is a pleasant surprise, not to mention a very convincing Gail Fitzpatrick as the mother figure of the Gypsy clan (Father Ted fans may remember her cheeky appearance in Speed 3) getting my vote as the most entertaining character. Overall though, it could have done with being a bit less one-dimensional. Sean could have been less selfless and navel-gazing and perhaps have a few rough edges so we can make up our own minds whether to root for him or not. Likewise, Smasher could have been less pure evil and more like a human being, and the characters around them could have been a little less like amalgams from the script fragments on the Rocky cutting room floor or token Hollywood-Oirish lovechilds.
At the end of the screening, Director Mark Mahon and Gail Fitzpatrick held a short session where they answered questions about the film, and Vinnie Jones sent over an audio message for the film festival goers, which was a nice surprise. The talk went on for a bit, mainly because Mahon can talk a lot without saying much (and isn't too modest with it), meaning poor Gail Fitzpatrick was given little airtime for her questions, but it was an insight into the whats and whys of the resulting film.
It was good. Very good in places, but clunking, manipulative and plastic in others. 6.5/10
26th September
New Romanian Shorts
This event was free, and being a northerner, I wasn't going to pass up on something like that - especially in Cambridge, where ice creams come with their own mortgage. Each film was about 10 minutes in length.
The Boxing Lesson : A man takes his bullied child to a boxing school, and ends up having to show his own worth in the ring when he is accused of being too much of a pushy dad. 6/10
Megatron : A spoilt, grumpy child gets to do what he wants on his birthday, which involves dragging his mother to the local MacDonalds, where the Megatron action figure is included in a happy meal. When father doesn't turn up and Megatron is sold out, the film ends with a focus on the mother, whose day is about to get worse. 5/10
Nice Day for a Swim : Three youths hijack a van with its driver tied in the back. On the way they pick up a prostitute and drive to the beach where they have their way with them, nearly killing the driver. A depressing, unpleasant film that got my anger up. 3.5/10
Life is Hard : A woman used to an automatic car finds herself using her dad's manual car and causing a traffic jam. Suddenly a man with a knife reaches in and takes her bag, but has to get in to avoid the police who have come to see what the jam is about. In a delightfully absurd twist, the man starts giving her driving lessons, and eventually even goes out of his way to get her to her meeting. The little touches as the end credits roll are the icing on the cake. 7.5/10
The Yellow Smiley Face : A very simple but effective film about a couple of middle-age parents attempting to turn on a computer and sign into a chat program so they can speak to their son in America. The bickering between the parents as they attempt to follow the presumptious notes written by the son and the reactions to what most computer literate users would think nothing of doing put me in mind of several attempts to get my parents to even touch a computer. 7.5/10
Waves : Following a brief coming together of three groups of people at the beach. Teenage poseur goes to look at the ladies and show off his skinny body. He happens upon an attractive Swedish mother and her stupid-looking son, whom poseur agrees to look after while she goes for a swim. A fat husband and his snarly wife look on as a similarly proportioned couple get it on in the middle of the crowded beach, then the husband heads off to the sea, where he meets the swedish woman. Things go a bit wrong when he tries to teach her to swim, and poseur is left holding the baby. Will he abandon the child or care for him? 6/10
So, two naff, two so-so and two good, then. Overall, worth the effort.
1000 Journals (US 2007) (site)
You may have come across the 1000 Journals project. It's had a web presence since its inception in 2000. Its premise is simple. Someguy (that's his pseudonym) got hold of 1000 blank journals at the turn of the millennium, and after giving each one its own cover art, and some instructions inside, started sending them off into the world. Some close by, some posted off to random places. The idea being that the desire to create art does not leave the average joe, but instead is suppressed by the monotony of day-to-day life. Receivers of the journals are encouraged to express themselves however they want on a few pages, then pass the journal on. When the last page is completed, it should then be returned to Someguy so he can put it on the web.
It took 3 years for the first journal to be returned, and in that time, word had spread about them. A website was created to allow people to join a request list so they could receive one of the journals, and the queues were growing.
The film follows Someguy as he tracks down the other journals, and interviews some of the authors of the pages on his travels around the world, highlighting cases where the receiver was offended by what the sender had included on the pages, or giving authors a chance to review a journal they had written in, some of which had been written over by more selfish contributors. Even though the film doesn't progress beyond this journey (other than to promote the accompanying book release and the 1001 Journals sister project), there was enough variety on offer by examining the personal lives of the people these journals passed between and it is a fascinating look into human expression when left to develop without restrictions.
At the end, director Andrea Kreuzhage joined the audience on a live link up from America (at least, after a fashion of knob twiddling and wire swapping), which was really wierd but disconcerting since the person on the cinema screen was now reacting to the audience! It made the film that extra bit special and can be seen here. 8.5/10
27th September
Where the Water Meets the Sky (UK 2008)
Morgan Freeman narrates yet another African documentary, this time about a group of women from a remote area, coming together as volunteers from local villages, and given basic camera and sound training so they can produce their own films that highlight the hardships they face as a community. After a short while debating the subject matter, one theme is shared by all of the women - the rampant spread of AIDS through the communities and the people it leaves behind. Most of the women have had friends or family die of the disease, often exasperated by the promiscuity of the men in the family.
The film has a general feel-good vibe to it, despite the often depressing subject matter. As both films proceed (the one we're watching and the one they're making) the women gain confidence in themselves and the respect of their husbands and peers in their community. When the film is finished and played in the local villages, its warm reception and positive message of spreading knowledge to combat the spread of AIDS gives hope.
Only a couple of small points may detract; the title of the film has almost no relevance to the content, other than that it is the English term for the region of Africa where the film was shot. It is also pretty subtitle-heavy as well, but that should not bother the intended audience, I guess.
7.5/10
Burma All Inclusive (Austria 2007)
Another documentary, though done in a different style. Burma is a country with many things going wrong (for instance, the oppressive actions that resulted in the 2007 anti-government protests), as well as a place of outstanding beauty and culture. The film attempts to reflect this by taking on the appearance of a promotional holiday video, showing the beauty of the many temples and pagodas deep in the Burmese forests, interspersed with some of the things you would not see on such videos; killing, emaciated prisoners, torture, oppression, and so on.
After a few minutes, the video stops, and invites the audience to come on a 16-day trip around Burma 'all inclusive' - meaning it is shown in its raw, unpolished state. The style of the film then changes to a first-person camera view, where we, as a naive and slightly selfish holidaymaker arrives in the centre of a bustling city and have to learn quickly what can and cannot be done, said or thought.
Definitely another of those eye-opening films, the film commendably avoids showing just the bad things, and instead devotes some of the 16 chapters to the more pleasant things you will see. However, the film did have a slightly patronising feel, not least the depiction of the selfish, bumbling tourist that was meant to be the viewer, and the use of puppets to explain some of the situations to us. It also had the feel of one of those dubbed adverts, that look to have been made in another country and then cleverly made so you never see anyone's lips move so it can be given a voice-over in the language of choice.
But all these are inconsequential when compared with the overall impact the film has. If you find yourself wondering how bad it is in countries without a democracy to ensure at least a semblance of freedom for the man on the street, this film is a good place to be educated. 7/10
The Black Balloon (Australia 2008)
I didn't see this one, but the lovely Ms. Plants did, so I'll hand over the keyboard...
This film deals with the struggles of a teenager growing up and wanting to be accepted and fit in with his peers. Even though Thomas has the added difficulty of dealing with a brother who has autism I feel we could all identify with the hurdles that Thomas faces as a teenager, e.g. fitting in at new school, or his first love. Thomas has a lot of responsibility looking after his brother and as you can understand becomes jealous of all the attention his brother gets from his parents and just wants his brother to be "normal". I thoroughly enjoyed the film and feel it gave me a better understanding of how it's not just the child with autism who has problems fitting in but also the effect it has on the whole family. It contains some funny parts and I would highly recommend this film to anyone and think could be a good learning tool to be shown in schools. 9/10
Rivals (France 2008)
Our last film would have been Just Another Love Story, but that got cancelled. Conversations with my Gardener also looked interesting, but that sold out. Feeling a little deflated that the festival ended early for us, we got a couple of tickets for Rivals, which was on in place of Just Another Love Story.
Rivals is set in 1970's France, around the lives of two brothers on opposite sides of the law. François is a cop, and a good one. Well respected by both his family and his colleagues. The only problem is that his brother Gabriel is a pimp, habitually in trouble and often part of any major killings or robberies that happen to go on. As we enter the story, Gabriel is caught in a police sting attended by his rookie brother and goes to jail for 10 years.
After his lengthy time in prison, Gabriel comes out with the intention of going straight, but with poor job prospects in the area the best he can get is a thankless supermarket job, and his attempts to set up a business with an ex-con partner literally go up in flames.
This was enough for Gabriel to go off the rails, and hearing about a job for a hitman, takes it up, and we see just what Gabriel used to get up to in his cold, calculated actions.
During all this, François becomes fascinated with a woman whose ex went to jail by his hand, and he wants revenge, and his family life with his brother and their infirm father begin to break down. With so many grudges flying everywhere, someone is bound to end up off-ed by the end, but who?
Rivals definitely has the feel of a 70's cop drama. It's very authentic, both in the violence, the acting and the dress code, and though you can see generally where the film is headed, it does dart off in unexpected directions now and again to keep the interest up. However it is peppered with little holes, such as Gabriels' ease at returning to the dark side, and the brothers' problems not ever getting in the way of François' police career, which may leave a niggle as you watch it. 7/10
28th September
Tropical Bird Land (site)
I found out about Tropical Bird Land just after attending Cambridge in 2007, and vowed that I would go this year. Located in Desford, just west of Leicester, it meant a small detour across the A1(M) and M1 which took about an hour and a half from Cambridge. And what is there? A collection of birds, mostly parrots, many of which are allowed to fly completely free around the site and its nearby area. Being a big parrot fan it was a must, so we made it a point to stop there on the way back to the north.
Unfortunately, the day was not its best, and the parrots themselves were a bit on the grumpy side due to being drizzled on, meaning plenty of stern warnings (sqwawks, growls, stares) not to put your hand too close or you might lose it. A couple of parrots were game though, in particular a green Lori, who happily climbed onto my shoulder and pressed its beak to my cheek to hear the things I was saying, although its clear he didn't fully agree with me as he grabbed my nose and gave it a 'gentle' squeeze. A bright pink Australian parrot was also very tame, and would happily sit on your shoulder rather than walk everywhere, and put his head forward for a stroking, moving your finger with his beak if it wasn't in the right place. A small parakeet also decided to land on my head when it saw the fruit and happily munched on a grape while sat on my finger.
Most of the macaws were not in the mood, and looked down on the visitors with a glare, only softening slightly when they were offered a piece of fruit which they would climb down to get and the head back up again.
Overall, its recommended if you have even the slightest interest in parrots, as they have beautiful specimens there doing what they should - flying free. A few tips though:
- Go in summer, on a nice, pleasant day to catch the parrots at their most agreeable.
- Take a pair of gloves, just to be safe, and some hankies for the bird droppings and fruit juice.
- Don't panic if they land on you.
- Don't try to force them to get on you.
- They prefer fruit more than nuts (you can buy bags of both at the entrance).
- Take a camera.
- Don't stick your hand near the Psycho Cage. The parrots inside take delight in tricking you into putting your finger within nipping range.
And that was it. We left Desford as the afternoon light began to wane, and went back to the cosy north, happy that we had spent perhaps the last (only) decent week of the year well. Cambridge 2008 left us with a lot of nice memories, and we'll probably swing by for next years' festival.
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